Ezra 8

1 Now these are the chiefs of their divisions, and this is the genealogy of those that went up with me, in the reign of king Artaxerxes, from Babylon.

This is a list of the family leaders and genealogical records of those who came back with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

2 Of these sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Chattush;

From the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush,

3 Of the sons of Shechanyah, [who was] of the sons of Par'osh, Zechariah; and with him were recorded by genealogy of males one hundred and fifty.

son of Shecaniah. From the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men were registered.

4 Of the sons of Pachath-moab, Elyeho'enai the son of Zerachyah, and with him were two hundred males.

From the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.

5 Of the sons of Shechanyah, the son of Yachaziel, and with him were three hundred males.

From the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.

6 And of the sons of 'Adin, 'Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him were fifty males.

From the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.

7 And of the sons of 'Elam, Jesha'yah the son of 'Athalyah, and with him were seventy males.

From the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.

8 And of the sons of Shephatyath, Zebadyah the son of Michael, and with him were eighty males.

From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him 80 men.

9 Of the sons of Joab, 'Obadiah the son of Jechiel, and with him were two hundred and eighteen males.

From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.

10 And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Jossiphyah, and with him were one hundred and sixty males.

From the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.

11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him were twenty and eight males.

From the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.

12 And the sons of 'Azgad, Jochanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him were one hundred and ten males.

From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.

13 And of the sons of Adonikam the last; and those are their names, Eliphelet, Je'iel, and Shema'yah, and with them were sixty males.

From the sons of Adonikam, those who were last, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.

14 And of the sons of Bigvai, 'Uthai, and Zabbur, and with them were seventy males.

From the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

15 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth into the Ahava, and we encamped there three days: and I looked about among the people, and the priests, but of the sons of Levi I found none there.

I gathered the returning exiles together at the Ahava Canal. We camped there for three days while I reviewed who had come—the ordinary people, the priests, and the Levites. I discovered there wasn't a single Levite

16 Then sent I for Eli'ezer, for Ariel, for Shema'yah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the head men; also for Joyarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

so I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men with good insight.

17 And I sent them with a charge unto Iddo the chief at the place Cassiphia, and I laid the words in their mouth to speak unto Iddo, and to his brother, who were appointed at the place Cassiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

I told them to go to Iddo, the leader of the Temple servants at Casiphia, asking him and his relatives to send us ministers for the Temple of our God.

18 And they brought unto us according to the good hand of our God upon us a man of intelligence, of the sons of Machli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebyah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

Since our gracious God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a man with good insight from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, together with his sons and brothers, a total of eighteen men;

19 And Chashabyah, and with him Jesha'yah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty.

and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the sons of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, a total of twenty men.

20 Also of the temple-servants, whom David and the princes had assigned for the service of the Levites two hundred and twenty temple-servants, all of whom were expressed by names.

In addition they brought 220 of the Temple servants, a group appointed by David and his officials to help the Levites. These were all registered by name.

21 Then did I proclaim a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to request from him a prosperous journey for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

At the Ahava Canal I called for a fast so we could confess our sins before God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, along with all our possessions.

22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king an army and horsemen to assist us against an enemy on the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those that seek him for good; but his power and his wrath are against all those that forsake him.

I had been reluctant to ask the king to give us a military escort to protect us from enemies on the way. We had told the king, “Our gracious God takes care of everyone who follows him, but shows his anger against anyone who abandons him.”

23 So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.

So we fasted and asked God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.

24 Then set I apart of the chiefs of the priests twelve persons, Sherebyah, Chashabyah, and with them ten of their brethren.

Then I designated twelve of the leading priests, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

25 And I weighed out unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.

and I weighed out and handed them the donations of silver and gold, and the items that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the people of Israel there had given for the Temple of our God.

26 And I weighed out into their hand of silver six hundred and fifty talents, and of silver vessels one hundred talents, of gold one hundred talents;

I weighed out and placed in their hands 650 talents of silver, silver Temple items weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

27 Also twenty cups of gold, of a thousand drachms; and two vessels of fine polished copper, valuable as gold.

20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two articles of highly-polished bronze, as valuable as gold.

28 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord the God of your fathers.

I told them, “You are set apart for the Lord, and these Temple items are too. The silver and gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your forefathers.

29 Watch ye, and guard them, until ye weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the divisions of Israel, at Jerusalem, into the chambers of the house of the Lord.

You are to guard them and keep them safe until you hand them over, weighing them before the high priests, the Levites and the family leaders in Israel at Jerusalem, in the treasury rooms within the Lord's Temple.”

30 And the priests and the Levites accepted what was weighed out of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring the same to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

The priests and Levites took responsibility for the silver and gold and the Temple items that had been weighed out to be brought to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.

31 And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was over us, and he delivered us from the hand of any enemy, and of such as lie in wait on the way.

On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and our God was with us to protect us from enemy ambushes along the way.

32 And we came to Jerusalem, and remained there three days.

Eventually we arrived in Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

33 And on the fourth day were the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriyah the priest; and with him was El'azar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua', and No'adyah the son of Binnui, the Levites;

On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the Temple items were weighed out in the Temple of our God and handed over to Meremoth, son of Uriah the priest, accompanied by Eleazar, son of Phinehas. Also present were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui.

34 By number and by weight of everything: and all the weight was written down at the same time.

Everything was checked, both by number and weight, and the total weight was written down at the time.

35 Those that came out of the captivity, the children of the exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven sheep, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all as burnt-offerings unto the Lord.

Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel—twelve bulls for all of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and a sin offering of twelve goats. All were sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord.

36 And they delivered the king's commands unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river; and these endowed the people, and the house of God.

They also delivered the king's decrees to the chief officers of the king and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates, who then provided assistance to the people and to God's Temple.